Besides these free calls Skype-to-Skype, users have access to low cost calls to mobile phones or landlines. The application is able to facilitate synchronization of Skype contacts with the native address book using an Android phone. Typical Skype functions like instant messaging of the ability to receive calls through Skype account online phone numbers are also available now.

Tests for Skype using Android 2.1 and 2.2 have been successfully run on a series of Android-based phones including HTC’s Legend and Desire, Google’s Nexus One and Motorola’s Droid. A whole range of languages is supported, including French, German, English, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Swedish, Spanish and Russian.

This recent move leaves HTC without the majority of short-term Verizon sales. The current shortages of the Droid Incredible have actual orders for the current range-topper arriving on July 20, which is a month later from today. Even if demand still exists, the issue is mainly due to Samsung’s problems obtaining AMOLED displays to HTC rather than pure popularity.

As many expect, the Motorola Droid X will most probably replace the Incredible as the favored Android-based phone of Verizon; this is mainly due to the fact that the handset will have a larger 4.3-inch display, HD video capture, HDMI output and other features.

Android’s new flagship could be launched alongside the Droid 2 at the special event on June 23. Despite this, it is most likely that the phone will not ship until July 19, according to previous rumors. The Droid X, as well as the Droid 2 may get Android 2.2 at their ship date or as an over-the-air update in the near future.

John Stratton, Verizon’s executive VP and chief marketing officer, Andy Rubin, Google’s engineering VP, Sanjay Jha, Motorola’s co-chief executive officer and Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s CEO will make the presentation. Flash could be a strong component of the next generation Droid devices. Due to the presence of Narayen, it is most likely that one or both phones will be Android 2.2-based and will benefit from either pre-installed Flash or from a Flash available in a more polished form.

Verizon’s timing may be a reaction to Apple’s iPhone 4 launch, but the company may undermine itself, because the presentation comes only a day before the launch of the iPhone 4 in the USA and several other countries. It is possible that both Droid smartphones will be a rival for iPhone 4, offering Flash in-browser support as a criticism.

The influence of Research in Motion has also grown and pushed it from 7.8 percent in January to 8.4 percent in April, which has placed it on fourth place. Nokia has dropped a full percentage point, to 8.1 percent.

These changes did not act for the benefit of American carriers. Motorola is one of Verizon’s favorite phone providers thanks to the Droid. The carrier has lost a tenth of a point remaining at 31.1 percent of market share. AT&T has narrowed the gap thanks to a slight increase to 25.2 percent. It was supported by the Korean companies as well as iPhone strong sales. T-Mobile and Sprint are shoulder-to-shoulder at 12 percent each.

The study provided by ComScore reveals a picture of the usage habits in the United States. The development of the smartphone sector has determined an increase in the number of those people using more advanced features of those handsets. Text messaging has reached 64.4 percent, while web browsing is at 31.1 percent. Third-party applications are run by 29.8 percent of the users. The number of users playing games, listening to music or participating in social networks has also increased.

Customers’ reaction depended strongly on how advanced the handset was. About 80 percent of iPhone 3GS users liked their phones, while 69 percent of iPhone 3G owners said the same. Droid customers were happier at 69 percent compared to 50 percent for other models. As for HTC, the Hero reached the level of the Droid, while the straight related Droid Eris managed only 50 percent. BlackBerry owners had mediocre quotations from their owners and were closely gathered. The Tour had a score of 56 percent, while the Storm gathered 45 percent.

Most of the motives for users’ preferences turned around some features that were favourable to Apple. Top demands like applications, easy usage and Internet access were among these characteristics. Battery life was the most sensitive issue for all phones. AT&T’s network quality was the aspect that users hated the most when talking about iPhone’s use. Surprisingly, the hardware QWERTY keyboard was revealed as the most disliked feature of the BlackBerry.

The study also revealed that 32 percent of smartphone buyers would have chosen an iPhone if Apple’s handset had been accessible on their network. However, both iPhone OS and Android were almost even when it came to satisfaction independent of the network or hardware.

The rising Android popularity as a consequence of the successful Motorola Droid campaign helped Google mark the largest single gain in the top five competitors. All Android devices jumped from about 2.8 percent share in the summer to 7.1 percent in January. Windows Mobile, PalmOS and webOS shares were the only ones to see a decline, dropping to 15.7 percent (ranked third) and 5.7 percent (fifth place) respectively during the same period of time.

Motorola has preserved the title of the top overall cell phone manufacturer, but had a drop to 22.9 percent, although the Droid was from far its best deal. Research in Motion’s lead in smartphones was enough to make it the fastest riser in the total phone arena, but its share is only 7.8 percent. Other competitors like Samsung, LG and Nokia were largely flat.

Moves in share were not explained by analysts, but Research in Motion has certainly benefited from its continuous deals with every major carrier in North America and continued to update its smartphone ranges that include the flagship Storm2 and the low-cost Curve 8520. Apple’s gain seems to be at the expenses of Palm and Microsoft. Customers have abandoned the old PalmOS and Windows Mobile platforms in favour of the iPhones instead of switching to webOS or have to wait for Windows Phone 7.

No matter what their preference for a particular platform is, there is a wide variation of the desire to get a different device. Owners of Apple devices would more likely want to buy an iPhone or an iPod, while only 6 percent of Android, iPhone or iPod users would want an Amazon Kindle. Persons using Android are significantly less eager to want any Apple device, no more than 12 percent aiming to buy an iPod touch.

A split occurs when it comes to application purchasing habits, where iPod owners are the most active, with an average 12.1 applications downloaded every month, 1.6 of them being paid. Android and iPhone users come shoulder-to-shoulder with a total of 8.7 to 8.8 applications per month. The small size of Palm App Catalog affects webOS users who have an average of only 5.7 applications downloaded monthly. Owners of iPhones are more inclined to get paid applications than Android and webOS users, with an average of 1.8 applications versus 1.1 and 0.6 for the latter.

As for usage share, there is a slight drop for Apple in December, to 50 percent worldwide. The successful campaign for the Motorola Droid has boosted Android share to 21 percent and simultaneously pushed Symbian down to 19 percent. Devices like the Droid, the Cliq and Droid Eris helped a lot Android in the United States, where it has already reached 39 percent of the mobile traffic. In other countries, most share remains stable or even slightly positive for Apple, and this is happening particularly in the United Kingdom, where Apple has an impressive 79 percent usage share, while Android has only 10 percent and Symbian no more than 7 percent.

The smartphone maker stressed some major difficulties ahead as its total fiscal year is now expected to end in May to generate revenues that are situated below what was originally estimated, between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion.

These statements follow the rumours regarding disappointing Verizon sales and demonstrate palm is really squeezed by the pressure of the competitors on the networks it is present in. For example, the Motorola Droid and HTC Droid Eris are the current flagship devices at Verizon and are very competitive on price as compared to the Pre Plus and Pixi Plus. At Sprint, other Android phones like the Samsung Moment and HTC Hero are given secondary billing but it seems they have diminished the importance of Palm’s devices.

As a consequence, Palm’s near-term future will mostly depend on the ability of adding further carriers, like AT&T in the spring, or T-Mobile and other international providers. As iPhone pricing will force prices drop to or below $99 that are charged now for an iPhone 3G, Palm might face even sharper competition in the near future.

The phone lacks a keyboard but it is expected to be in many ways superior to the Droid with its 8-megapixel camera and support for 720-pixel video playback through its included HDMI output. The device will also have an 8GB internal memory the Droid is missing, in addition to a microSDHC slot. Other features like the 3.7-inch LCD and connectivity through 3G, Wi-Fi and GPS would remain intact.

Motorola’s touchscreen-only Android handset was first launched in China and Korea and is now expected to hit the US market in March. The SK Telecom executive did not give any details about which network would carry the Droid tablet but Verizon is believed to be the main candidate.